Coach Billy Donovan believes the offseason addition of Josh Giddey and the return of Lonzo Ball provide the Bulls with the weapons to play at a much faster pace, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. The biggest problem with that strategy in the early season is the team can’t hold on to the ball.
Chicago had 26 turnovers in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma City after losing the ball 21 times in the season opener at New Orleans. They did much better in their only victory, limiting turnovers to 10 while beating Milwaukee.
“We’ve got to bring them way back down,” Giddey said. “Guys’ hearts are in the right place. We’re trying to play the right way, the way we want to play. … The way we want to play, up and down, there’s going to be turnovers. But it just cannot be as many as (we’ve had).”
The biggest culprit so far has been Zach LaVine, who seems to have rediscovered his scoring touch but is struggling to protect the ball. Against OKC, he committed seven turnovers for the second time this season.
“I’ve got to take responsibility for that,” he said. “That’s two games I’ve had seven, and (against the Thunder) was just unforced. It’s not like they did anything.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- A new emphasis on the pick-and-pop has seemed to unlock Nikola Vucevic‘s outside shot, observes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. After shooting a career-low 29.4% from three-point range last season, the Bulls center is 7-of-13 from beyond the arc through three games.
- Tyrese Haliburton admitted that he doesn’t feel like himself after the Pacers‘ loss to Philadelphia on Sunday, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. The All-Star guard is shooting 31.8% from the floor and 20% from three-point range, and he’s averaging just 3.7 assists per game after leading the NBA in that category last season. “We’re working through things,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We want to play faster with more aggression, more speed, urgency. So far, we’ve had some challenges and we have to continue to work through them.”
- Appearing on the Knuckleheads podcast (video link), Bucks guard Damian Lillard said he and Giannis Antetokounmpo need to be able to communicate openly on the court to reach a championship level. “Me and him got to be able to hold each other accountable, and that don’t mean yelling at each other all the time,” Lillard explained. “It just means, like, I got to be able to say something to you, and you got to be able to say something to me at all times.”
Donovan needs to go. Completely inexcuseable why Matas Buzelis isn’t getting PT because THT is such a better fit. The guy isn’t the right coach to lead a rebuild. He keeps tinkering with lineups and cannot adjust properly in game situations. Just incredibly frustrating, I feel as each game goes, Buzelis’ confidence will dwindle which is the LAST thing that should happen for a young player.
I think you’re highly overrating Buzelis. Outside of his dunking, I have yet to see any reason to give him more playing time.
What I don’t understand is why he isn’t gaining experience in the G-league. Better than playing sporadic minutes at the professional level, primarily warming the bench
Buzelis is going to take time and probably needs full time minutes in the G-league first. He didn’t exactly dominate there last year, and getting lots of reps there for a stretch could give him momentum for the second half.
Meanwhile, Bulls are surprisingly deep enough with a good core that puts them squarely fighting for 6-10 seed, potentially even higher if Lonzo gradually plays more minutes. They could be quite good come April.
Tyrese you are trying to live up to what you created yourself out of in the past. Which means you are trying surpass it all.
There is no way to do that. The ladder that created those things ending in a gold medal is not there.
You can not be that player with out the rungs to reach for like you had last year.
You have to let go of all the accolades and love for that’s built up for you, put your head down and go back to playing the game that got you to this point and talk today and you will be alright as a result.
Don’t kid yourself, Vooch still can’t shoot. Unless you are a team that will trade an expiring for him, then, yeah, sure, he is a great shooter, stretches the court, yeah, that’s right…